When Music Is Too Loud

An interesting problem with music production that doesn’t get much mainstream talk is the lack of dynamics in recordings nowadays. I recently started recording a friend’s album and when we first sat down the first thing he said is “I want dynamics in the music.”

What is dynamics? To put it simply, it’s volume difference, it’s when a song goes from quiet to loud or vice-versa. It also just volume differences in general, like a good example is how when you hear a snare hit. First…BANG…and then it tails off, until the drummer hits it again.

The “Loudness War” is the name used for this problem that has been slowly creeping up in music in the past twenty years. Rather than even try to explain it. Here’s are some great videos and articles about it. If you ever wondered what happened sometimes on a “Remastered Classic”, you may now have an idea.